Atlantis Nesos
by Styxxx
Summary: Hermes runs a couriering business for private packages of questionable legality. When his most recent package, a young woman with secrets of her own, fights back against her forced transportation, sparks begin to fly – and not the all the good kind.


**Atlantis Nesos is Greek transliteration for **_**The Island of Atlas,**_** or, as we call it today, Atlantis.**

**Atlantis Nesos - Chapter 1**

"And now we come to my favourite exhibit, the Atlantean Empire. There has always been a lot of speculation about Atlantis, as you probably know, but in my spare time, I work as an archaeologist at the local dig site. It's off limits to the general public, especially as past experience tells us that it's probably not going to be the Lost City," Cathy explained, standing to one side to let her tour group peer through the glass and into her carefully constructed display. She had constructed a combination of Grecian and Babylonian architecture in her models that gave as good a representation of Atlantis as you were going to get without making up buildings that had no place in the ancient world. "Part of the reason I love this is that as the existence of Atlantis has never been proven, there are thousands of theories floating about. Some involve aliens. Some involve accepting that part of what is written is true, but disregarding the rest as nonsense. In other words, some theories are complete garbage."

People looked around at her, startled. They didn't expect their tour guide to start insulting the work on display. She smiled. "Not all of it, though. In fact, this exhibit is the most complete and comprehensive view we have of what life in Atlantis would have been like. You'll want to read the board over there for a more in depth explanation of Atlantis, but if you just want to look at the displays, I'll summarise for you."

Taking the interested silence as acceptance, Cathy put on her storytelling voice and stepped back so that they would watch the exhibit instead of her.

"_Plato's works tell of a world power long before the Egyptians, and even the Sumerians. Almost ten thousand years B.C.E., the empire started as a small island in the Atlantic Ocean under the government of a mighty god. Filled with riches and precious jewels, Atlantis thrived as a trading nation, exchanging goods with Asia Minor and Europe, and eventually taking control of these weaker countries. Protected by an immensely strong naval fleet, Atlantis was undefeatable by all counts._

"_After several thousand years, the Atlanteans became arrogant. They no longer brought benevolence and prosperity – they were tyrants. The rising power of Ancient Greece declared war on the massive empire, and fought for many long years._

"_Inevitably, the Greeks lost. They had neither the man power nor the experience of war that the Atlanteans had perfected over the years, and they crumpled. But the Greeks prayed to their gods, they sacrificed, and they worshipped as hard as they could. And so, after the final warship was crushed and Greece was declared defeated, the ultimate sacrifice had been made for the good of mankind, and the gods rose up in defence of their people. Poseidon, god of the waters, instigated the downfall, with his powerful family behind him. Earthquakes and tidal waves wracked Atlantis, leaving the surrounding world unharmed. The doomed island sank beneath the waves, taking its beauty and riches with it, never to be seen again."_

The image she had built in their minds held for a few seconds before the mundanity of real life intruded and warships and mighty nations faded to the backs of their imaginations. For those few minutes, she liked to think she had been able to transport them to another world, one they would never be able to experience in the ordinary course of their lives.

"You've got ten minutes here, and then we'll head over to the gift shop. Any questions, and, as always, please feel free to ask."

The spell broken, they milled about as Cathy faded into the background. She had long ago perfected the art of being a tour guide. When you were needed, you were a firm, confident presence in the room without being domineering, but when everyone was busy looking at things by themselves, you became a wallflower – invisible unless someone was searching for you.

"Hey."

"Hello, may I help you?" Her friendliest smile lighting up her face and, Cathy turned to face the customer who had just tapped her on the shoulder. She was having difficulty getting used to the fact that in Greece, that was an acceptable thing to do. There was far more touchy-feely contact here than there had ever been back home in the US.

"I was wondering if you had any more information on the dig site. I hear it's a very exciting place to be," said the customer in perfect English with only the faintest trace of Greek brushing over his New York accent.

Cathy took in his broad-shouldered build, his athletic physique, the muscles packed tightly onto his lean frame, and looked up into his sunglasses with a cheerful smile. "So you can tell I'm not a native. Just as I thought my accent was getting better." It suddenly occurred to her that, attractive as he was, he had no reason to be wearing sunglasses indoors. Maybe he was just a little vain and enjoyed looking mysterious. Or he had a permanent disfigurement.

"It's very good." He smiled back. "I just like the chance to speak English."

"That's okay then. And you picked a great subject to ask me about. I love my work there. Even if it turns out not to be Atlantis, it's an excellent find and a great insight into another ancient civilisation. The carbon dating has so far been inconclusive, so we don't actually know how old anything is yet, but the architecture we've uncovered is revolutionary even for the ancient Greeks, and there are some pieces of pottery that are amazingly preserved, with some of the original paint too! We're hoping to be able to recreate some colour statues instead of the plain white ones we're normally left with. We have some pictures over here if you'd like to take a look," she said, realising she was rambling.

"Just show me the way," he said, following her over to the display, still without taking his sunglasses off. Were they surgically attached to his face? She wondered if he could even see what she was showing him. She burbled and gestured for a while, and he gave encouraging nods, so she assumed he was or he wouldn't be wasting her time. She hoped.

"I was wondering if there was any chance you'd grab a coffee with me after you get off work."

Suddenly the sunglasses were off. And his face was on full view. And good god was it a face to be reckoned with. He was like Da Vinci's sketches come to life. His skin was flawless. His eyes were the deepest, richest blue she had ever seen. What she wanted to say was, "HELL YES!"

At least she understood the reason for the sunglasses now. If he didn't wear them, every woman in the vicinity would be either drooling or hitting on him, and as long as he did, whenever he was asking people out, he could stun them with his awesome good looks. She had met some pretty handsome people in her time, but holy schmuck was he the hottest guy she had ever seen.

"I'm afraid I have to say no." She was stronger than she had ever imagined. Either that or really, really stupid. "At least until the end of my shift. Which ends in half an hour." Chances were he'd be long gone by then, but the image of his ohmigod perfect face was burned into her retinas forever.

"I'll still be here."

"Then I'll see you then."

She watched him walk away, shamelessly taking in the sheer masculine beauty that had totally grabbed her from the start, but much as she enjoyed his appearance, there was something very wrong about him.

First, he hadn't asked for her name. That indicated a lack of desire to know, which couldn't be good, or he already knew who she was, which was also not good. Second, he had listened to her ramble about Atlantis for too long before interrupting, which had wasted precious minutes of her time if all he'd wanted was to ask her out.

And finally, there was his physical appearance. Either he'd had extensive plastic surgery – and even that couldn't fully account for it – or there was something special about him. Special in the heebie-jeebie magic way that had always given her the creeps. She had tried to cut that out of her life as much as possible, and she didn't like its sudden reappearance.

Combine that with the gorgeous leather jacket he was wearing in the sweltering weather without breaking into a sweat, and she knew she was in trouble.

**Okay, so this is the beginning. Yup. I just wanted to get this up there. You may have guessed by now, but this isn't actually going to be from Hermes' POV. I love the guy, but as a female writer, I find it easier to write from a feminine perspective, and it leaves my plot line a lot less open to the general public. **

**Concrit and grammar corrections are always welcome, as are any comments of any sort.**

**xx Styx xx  
**


End file.
